This application relates to positioning systems, for example, positioning systems for thermal therapy.
Thermal therapy makes use of heating techniques, for example, for treating cancers and tissue anomalies. One form of thermal therapy, for example, uses high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). By inducing local heating, HIFU can cause irreversible tissue necrosis rapidly, e.g., within a few seconds.
For a thermal therapy procedure to be both safe and effective, the amount of energy delivered to a patient, for example, through an energy transducer, is preferably controlled. The focus of energy application may also be controlled to direct energy only into intended regions while leaving surrounding healthy tissue undamaged. This can be done, for example, by adjusting the location of the energy transducer using a positioning system.
In some thermal therapy systems, imaging devices (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging systems (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) systems) are used in conjunction with the energy transducer to provide image guidance in real time. The duration, intensity, and location of energy application can be respectively determined, for example, by estimating the degree of tissue necrosis in a diseased region through MRI-based temperature measurements.